Pressing the [Big Red Button] had been a disaster.
This [Berserker Rage Bonus] came with a steep cost – if he ever ran out of action points, that is. With six more cows in Bossy's herd he had over two hundred action points right now, but he would have to watch his action levels carefully. Maybe at some point he could brace everyone and take the hit, but today was definitely not that day with Eira and her crowd just moving in. If he held off on any more big projects he could continue to build up his reserve, maybe another one hundred action points and just treat that as his new floor. Kind of like he used to do with his bank account. He had twenty bucks he never touched, except for that time his paycheck was late and he went all the way into overdraft.
He moved his perspective back to his core room and looked out of Drinking Bird's eyes while it built the button's charge back to full. He wasn't sure if he could ever bring himself to press it again. It would have to be a serious emergency before he was likely to risk it.
With [Natural Light] it felt like he was standing outside in an open meadow next to his core with the delver camp halfway between himself and the treeline. That's when he made his real mistake. He found himself thinking, "what else could go wrong today?"
Ten minutes later an army stepped through the trees.
There were well over one hundred people, horses and wagons. No one was wearing armor. The wagons were loaded with what looked like building materials, and rather than swords, people were carrying tools and shovels over their shoulders.
They filed out of trees in a single-file line. A man dressed like Socrates walked at the head of the newcomers. He raised an arm to Raek and Garrik who went to meet him.
Stew re-prioritized his to do list and put this new development at the top. He reached out to Femur. "Grab the false core, then go see who these people are who just showed up outside."
"Are we going to set them on fire?" Femur grabbed the old sack and slung it over his shoulder, already on his way through the [Empty Marketplace] room.
"I'm not sure yet. The delvers seem to know them, so go ask for an introduction."
Femur was now on the steps down from the temple entrance. "It looks like they plan to dig. Do you think they're miners?"
Stew joined him and looked through Femur's eyes as they walked past the Delver camp to where the others were talking. The group was mostly workers but there were a few guards. Some of them looked startled, surprised to see a goblin. They stared at Femur as he approached. Some of the guards covered their weapons, but didn't draw them.
Raek held up his hands palms out and patted the air as if pushing everyone back. "Hold! This is a representative from our host. Show him some respect!" Then he turned to Femur and added, "Allow me to introduce Theus of Macedonia, Garrik and Eira's mentor." He turned back to Theus. "This is Femur, a representative of the dungeon."
"Greetings and well met." Theus was a muscular, older man with curly gray hair, tan skin, and smile wrinkles around his eyes. He looked like Hemingway if Hemingway had been a mixed martial arts instructor on the weekends.
Femur started to say something, but Stew nudged him and took over. Something about the look in Theus' eyes reminded him of Raek, easy going, but dangerous to cross. "Pleased to meet you. I see that you've brought quite a few friends with tools. What did you have in mind?"
Raek spoke before Theus could open his mouth. "As you will recall, we had talked about building a town here. I sent to Theus to help arrange for builders to come prepare the ground. We will start by laying out the buildings and streets. If you will walk with me, I can show you–"
"I thought I might also check on my charges." Theus interrupted. "Garrik here seems to be none the worse for wear from his adventures, but he tells me that Eira is within the dungeon?" Theus' tone was light, but there was that hint of threat that Stew had noticed from the first glance. Stat-o-Vision™ didn't work outside with just the false core, so he couldn't tell his level or class, but he had to be at least as advanced as Raek, so maybe level 15. What was he, a fighter?
"Eira needed a place to go, so I offered her a job and a place to live in return for her help running a level. We made a deal." Stew said through Femur's mouth. He could feel Femur's heart accelerating as the goblin felt the tension building in Theus. That was unusual enough for Femur that it made Stew nervous too.
"This deal." Theus' voice was tight although his expression remained pleasant. Stew could feel something coming off of him. Mana? "May I see it? Her family will be very interested in knowing what terms she has made with a dungeon."
Stew had the feeling that he was being tested. If he rolled-over too easily, it would call his bluff and they would all know he was weaker than he pretended. If he tried to make a show of force and marched out a bunch of fighting golems, things could get ugly fast.
He had no real idea what he was dealing with with this guy, but showing weakness seemed like a very bad idea.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Maybe he just needed to bluff bigger.
"She's a promising hire. I'm looking for someone to head up level five, maybe you would be interested? Here's the same contract I offered her." He shared the contract with Theus, word for word the same as the ones he had offered Eira and Lady Briar.
Theus' eyebrows drew slightly together, but otherwise his expression remained the same. He said nothing for a long while, seemingly reading over the contract several times. "Such a short term for dungeon service," was the first thing he said.
"As I told Eira, I would rather have someone stay because they want to than because they have to."
"Hmm." Theus said. "May I speak with her?" He obviously knew what he was asking. Would Stew let him into the dungeon without signing a contract?
Fortunately, Stew already had an answer for that, straight off of his to do list. He smiled wide with Femur's mouth, then thought better of it. Goblin teeth are sharp. "I'd be happy to have you visit, and you can help me try something out, speaking of short term contracts." He sent Theus the other new contract he had been working on. If he was right, this was going to make more money than mana cores.
Theus' expression barely changed, but there might have been some surprise, then interest, then a question in the subtle movement of his eyebrows. "One hour?"
"What is it?" Raek must have caught Theus' almost expression. Maybe that was an emotional outburst for this guy.
"The dungeon has offered me a contract as a minion for one hour, during which time I can delve, fight, loot, and, if killed, be resurrected to train again." Theus looked over at the temple-shaped entrance to the dungeon.
"Resurrected?" Garrik looked from Theus to Raek then down to Femur. "What is he talking about?"
Now was when he had to really lay on the bluff. "I noticed that very few of you on the surface had much experience or training. The Nec… The mage was the most interesting, but the rest of you have potential. I thought I might offer my domain as a training ground. I can let my representative here negotiate fees. If you accept, you can safely visit Eira and ask her opinion of the deal."
"Remember, no demanding their first born!" Stew sent to Femur mind-to-mind before letting him speak for himself.
The goblin grinned again. "We'll call it two denarii for an hour's visit, or an aureus for the day." He managed to make it sound lewd.
Raek looked thoughtful. I could see the profits adding up in his mind as he thought about his Inn and taxes.
Garrik was the first to ask the obvious question. "But won't that mean you'll have to serve the dungeon?"
Theus gestured and a scroll appeared in his hand. "Apparently not." He handed it to Garrik. "It just requires an agreement not to go below the fourth level and no attempt to bring harm to the dungeon itself, though I may fight and even kill any denizen."
"We respawn too." Femur shrugged. "Or so I hear."
That scroll printing trick was something Stew had to learn. Maybe he could get Theus to trade it for some golem boxing?
Garrik handed the scroll to Raek who read it over too. "This." Raek looked up at Femur and his face was positively glowing. "This is something special." He rubbed his chin. "I've only seen lower level defenders. Are there limits on the power level of delvers you will accept?"
Stew took over from Femur again. "That contract is just an example. For now, let's see how well this works up to level ten, just the first four floors of my dungeon." Stew had to keep in his bluff, so no reason to tell Theus he was going to have to level up himself and spend some time to get any defenders higher than that level to fight.
It occurred to Stew that he hadn't even asked Eira what she thought about sending Papa Pit Fighter down to see her. "Hey. A guy named Theus is here to see you. Is it alright with you if I send him down?"
"Theus! He's here?" Eira sounded worried.
"Is he a problem?" He was glad he asked. He started rethinking things. Maybe he could take out Theus with ALL of the golems right now before he was expecting anything. Maybe. Or maybe a freezing slime attack. Stew called up a thermal slime from the third floor.
"No! He's my teacher. I just wasn't expecting him." She sounded much less confident, and much younger than she had earlier. "What is he going to think? What will he tell my parents?"
Stew felt Lady Briar on the edge of the conversation. "I am not pleased to see him, but he's no threat to Eira. I'm more worried that this means we'll be drawing attention from the outside faster than we might be ready."
Stew shared the image of what Femur was seeing. "Not just attention. He's brought workers. They're building a town around the entrance."
"Oh," Eira gave off a sense of shock, embarrassment. "I thought I'd be able to hide here for a little while at least. I'm not ready…"
"Nonsense, girl. You can take ten of those louts," her grandmother said.
"That's not what I mean. I'm not ready for anyone to know that I'm, well, a dungeon monster now."
"Minion," Stew corrected. "Monsters are made by the dungeon. Minions are summoned from elsewhere or contracted."
"Great. Minion." Eira sighed mentally. "Mom and Dad will be so proud."
"They better be," her grandmother said. "You've already accomplished more than they have. Your mother's wasted her talent. Wasted!"
Stew withdrew. This sounded like a private, family discussion now. At least he knew it was alright sending Theus down, if awkward. He sent the thermal slime back to the lava pit.
A notification appeared. Theus had accepted the contract. Raek and Garrik were asking if they could get contracts of their own. Femur had already collected the fee from all of them. He sent them each a copy.
This had been a productive day, despite the damned button.
Stew checked off another item from his to do list with some satisfaction.
Charge admission.